It is well known that hay or other forage crop which has been harvested will spoil if exposed to excessive moisture. Accordingly, in the harvest of hay there has been a consistent effort to keep moisture away from such hay. A traditional and still common solution to this problem has been to store such crop inside of a building to prevent rain and other forms of precipitation from entering the hay. Hay stacks have been utilized, whether formed by modern day stacking machines, by the ancient manual pitch fork method or any other method, to store hay outdoors, since a hay stack tends to naturally seal itself on the top thereof if properly formed to thereby prevent rain from penetrating it.
Various other hay packaging and handling systems have been devised, such as the square and round bales. One of the most popular of these forms today is the large round bale which normally weighs in excess of a half of a ton. Certain of these hay packages can be left outside without causing spoilage of the entire package, while other hay packages, for example the small square bale, must be shielded from precipitation because it does not naturally form a seal and allows precipitation to enter it readily.
But even in the stacks and bales designed to be stored outdoors, there is a certain amount of waste which is expected and accepted as being normal. For example, it has been estimated that there is 15-20% spoilage in a large round bale or a stack which has been stored outdoors. Some of this spoilage is at the point of contact with the ground and the other spoilage is normally around the outer several inches of such hay package. Consequently, it can be readily appreciated that there is a need for a method and apparatus for preventing such spoilage of hay due to excess moisture and exposure to the elements.
One of the problems additionally is that certain hay is too wet when formed into a bale or stack and this hay containing excess moisture, when exposed to the air, causes the growth of mold, fungi, mildew or the like. This can also occur to a bale or stack which does not seal out moisture properly for one reason or another. When this happens, animals are normally reluctant to eat such hay, and if they do eat such hay, can suffer adverse effects therefrom. For example, cows have been known to abort from eating such spoiled hay and they have also been known not to "cycle back" for breeding purposes, which all means loss of profits for the farmer and rancher. Consequently there is a need to prevent the occurrence of this type of spoilage and contamination in hay packages.
Another problem with hay or the like is that it is not uniform nutritionally, so that it is quite often necessary to supplement the hay. Even then quite often over or under feeding occurs. This also affects the profits to the livestock producer.
At certain times hay is cut, but before it is formed into a stack or bale, it is rained upon. Unless this hay is quickly dried and packaged, it loses its nutritional value. Consequently there are situations when such hay is only packaged for the purpost of removal from the field so that it does not interfere with the next harvest of such crop. It would be desirable to utilize such hay or the like which has lost its nutritional value by using it as a carrier for nutrients which are applied thereto, if a practical system and apparatus were available for this purpose.
In the June-July 1978 issue, page D8, of Successful Farming Magazine, an article appeared disclosing the use of a device using injector nozzles for releasing gaseous anhydrous ammonia (NH.sub.3) into a small square bale as it is being formed for the purpose of adding protein value and having a preservative effect. The use of adding gases to a bale requires injection needles and does not allow it to be merely sprayed on a surface of the hay or on the outside of a bale being formed. Furthermore injection needles could not, as a practical matter, be used on a baler for producing round bales since such balers constantly rotate the bale and provide no opportunity for insertion of injection needles. Such square bales formed with anhydrous ammonia injections also are not sealed to prevent precipitation from entering such bale and must be stored inside to prevent spoilage.